People warned of leptospirosis in rainy season

BANGKOK, August 19 (TNA) - The Thai Ministry of Public Health has warned people, particularly those in the northeastern region to beware of leptospirosis, as there have been over 1,400 leptospirosis cases reported nationwide so far this year, with 13 deaths. Dr. Narong Sahametapat, Permanent Secretary for Public Health, suggested on Monday that people seriously protect themselves from leptospirosis, which is a fatal disease spreading during the rainy season. Dr. Narong acknowledged that people suffering from leptospirosis in Thailand from January to August 11, 2013 had reached 1,459, 13 of them had died. According to the senior official, the lion’s share of the leptospirosis patients, or 835, was reported in the Thai Northeast with seven deaths, followed by 376 patients with six deaths in the Thai South. The senior official advised people to clean their residences and the containers of food and drinking water, wear gloves while cleaning houses, keep food in containers with lids, wear rubber boots or cover their feet with plastic bags while wading through flooded areas, take a shower just after walking in flooded areas or mud with bare feet and clean vegetables collected from forests or paddy fields before consumption. Besides, those with high temperatures for longer than two days, severe headaches, extreme muscle pain especially in legs and red eyes, are advised to see doctors immediately, as most death cases of leptospirosis had resulted from slow meetings with doctors. (TNA)